September 5

PART II. — Luke 2:27.

As Christ is the consolation of the enquiring penitent sinner, so also, is he the consolation of his believing people. When suffering poverty, reproach, and persecution for his sake, he sympathizes with them, supports them, and makes his grace all-sufficient for them. To whom can they repair in the dark and cloudy day but Jesus? Jesus, who is the only refuge from the tempest, and the only covert from the storm. When they are suffering from the temptations of the wicked one, Jesus is their only consolation. He teaches their hands to fight, he invigorates for the conflict, and they are more than conquerors through him that loved them. When drawing near to the valley of death, all their comfort is derived from Jesus. Living, they live to the Lord, and when they die, they die to the Lord, so that living or dying they are the Lord's. Besides, his presence cheers them in death, with Stephen, they behold by the eyes of faith, their exalted Lord and Saviour, and gladly do they yield their falling tabernacles, that they may be for ever with Jesus, which is far better. On Christ's blood, they rest for acceptance with the Father, on the prevalency of his intercession, they hope for the enjoyment of all heavenly and eternal good; and seeing that Jesus who was dead is alive again; they lay down their bodies in the dust, in sure and certain hope of a resurrection unto eternal life. O yes, Christ is the consolation of all the saints! He is their morning star, and rising sun, — he is the fountain of all their enjoyment and the source of all their bliss, — he is their chief good, their Alpha and Omega, their all and in all. And the consolation they enjoy in the possession of Christ, is real, not delusive; it is full and free, not limited; it is abiding, not fleeting and transient; it is eternal, not bounded by human life, or restricted to the present world. Christ is the consolation of all his people, either on earth or in heaven.